U.N. agency says at least 74 children killed in Yemen fighting

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — More than 100,000 people in Yemen have left their homes in search of safety and at least 74 children have been killed since fighting in the country intensified almost two weeks ago, the U.N. children’s agency said.

UNICEF said the violence has disrupted water supplies in areas of southern Yemen and that sewage is overflowing in some locations, raising the risk of disease outbreak.

Hospitals are struggling to treat large numbers of wounded with insufficient supplies and some medical facilities have come under attack, the agency. It said at least three health workers, including an ambulance driver, have been killed in attacks.

Children are especially vulnerable, said the agency’s Yemen representative, Julien Harneis.

“They are being killed, maimed and forced to flee their homes, their health threatened and their education interrupted,” Harneis said in a statement, released Monday in Amman, Jordan.

The agency said at least 74 children have been killed and 44 wounded since March 26, when a Saudi-led air campaign against Yemen’s Shiite rebels and their allies began.